Rules of Engagement

For Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

This is a set of rules I created for my homebrew campaign. They are general enough to be used
in any setting or adventure. It is mostly a combination of the Unearthed Arcana rules for Mass
Combat and a few strategy video games. They are highly loose on rules so that they can be
modified easily during your session.

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characters and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any
reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast.
Created by Nick “Goldy” Drakopoulos | https://twitter.com/Nick_Goldy?lang=el
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Contents
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................................ 2

DISSECTING A UNIT ................................................................................................................................................................. 3

ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS! .............................................................................................................................................................. 3

NUMBER & CR ............................................................................................................................................................................. 4
BATTLE RATING ........................................................................................................................................................................... 4
DEFENSE RATING ......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
INITIATIVE & STEALTH ................................................................................................................................................................. 5
MORALE ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
SPEED ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
ABILITIES ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

CREATING A UNIT .................................................................................................................................................................... 7

UNIT SIZE & SPACE ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7

COMMANDER ............................................................................................................................................................................... 7
BR & DR TOTAL .......................................................................................................................................................................... 7
UNIT ABILITIES............................................................................................................................................................................. 7
MORALE LEVEL ............................................................................................................................................................................ 7

DISASSEMBLING A WAR MACHINE ................................................................................................................................... 8

GUARD UNIT................................................................................................................................................................................ 8
TYPE ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
ARMOR CLASS.............................................................................................................................................................................. 8
HIT POINTS .................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
SPEED ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
ABILITIES ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

CREATING A WAR MACHINE ................................................................................................................................................ 9

WAR MACHINE’S SIZE & SPACE .................................................................................................................................................. 9

TYPE & STAT BLOCK .................................................................................................................................................................... 9
WAR MACHINE ABILITIES............................................................................................................................................................ 9

WAR MACHINE CONDITIONS .............................................................................................................................................. 9

COMBAT...................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

DETERMINE AMBUSH ................................................................................................................................................................. 10

INITIATIVE .................................................................................................................................................................................. 10
TAKING TURNS .......................................................................................................................................................................... 10
REPEAT ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
COUNTING CASUALTIES............................................................................................................................................................. 11

UNITS CONDITIONS............................................................................................................................................................... 12

APPENDIX A – COMMANDER ABILITIES ......................................................................................................................... 11

APPENDIX B – UNIT ABILITIES ............................................................................................................................................ 12

APPENDIX C – WAR MACHINE ABILITIES ....................................................................................................................... 13

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon
Master’s Guide, D&D Adventurers League, all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the
Coast in the USA and other countries. All characters and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This material is protected
under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is
prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast.

Introduction
When dealing with massive battles of
hundreds or even thousands you cannot
possibly do it with the normal rules of the
player’s handbook. In that occasion we are
talking about armies and armies are
organized and fight in units.
Army combat functions similarly to the
combat rules in the player’s handbook. That
means that units take turns in initiative
order and during those turns they can
perform actions such as attack, hide etc.
Bonus actions are not present in such large
scale combat, because they are insignificant.
Units also have different stats most of
which are based on their Monster Manual
stat block. They can also use special abilities
and can have commanders that have special
abilities of their own.
The time scale is also different. Each round
in Mass Combat represents 1 minute in the
game world (10 rounds of normal combat).
Armies use a significantly larger battlefield
and therefore if you’re using a grid you
cannot represent the units in a 5 by 5 feet
square scale(Unless of course you have an
entire room to use as a battlefield in which
case…go for it!). Think of it as looking at the
battlefield and zooming out to see the
entirety of it. An easy way to represent
entire armies on a grid is by using a grid
scale of 100 by 100 feet per square where
every unit takes up one square. But, a unit
that takes up one square isn’t much fun
now is it? Here we are going to use a grid
scale of 20 by 20 feet where each unit will
2
take up a 5 by 5 square space(more on that
later). Now that is fun!
When talking about armies we have to take
into consideration the war machines. From
a simple ballista to a siege tower, war
machines can drastically change the balance
of power. Therefore, in addition to units we
will have war machines that function not
too differently from a unit.
PCs should be important in battles of such
scale. The simple reason being, that
otherwise it would be boring. They would
have to constantly roll dice that they have
no control over. Instead try to give them
important tasks. Maybe they are the
commanders of a few units and are tasked
to encircle the enemy. Maybe they are the
last line of defense between the enemy and
the friendly siege engines. Giving a PC to
command units is the easiest way to make a
massive battle interesting for them. Another
is to engage in smaller scaled combat every
now and then during the battle. For
example, if each party member commands a
unit and they fight against an orcish horde,
have them engage in normal combat(PH)
when fighting against the enemy warchief’s
unit. If you do so raise the stakes. Since
every round in Mass Combat equals 10 in
normal combat, whenever they encounter a
warchief’s unit have the normal combat
section take 10 turns and then return to the
Mass Combat one. That way the player’s
will race against the clock to kill the enemy
warchief so that they will break the spirit of
the horde.
 commander abilities in Appendix A. Feel
Dissecting a Unit free to create your own! Go wild!

Unit Card. Similar to a Monster Manual stat

A unit is comprised of two parts. One is the block, a unit has its own. Below we are
unit card and the other is the commander going to look at each of the stats and
card. what they represent. Most of the stats
Commander Card. Because this is presented come out from the Monster
organized combat each unit needs a Manual stat block of each creature.
commander. A unit that does not have a
commander gets the “Unorganized unit”
condition. The commander does not
count towards the unit’s stats(BR,DR etc.
more about it later). A common
commander has a Charisma Modifier of
0 and no abilities.

Rock, Paper, Scissors!

The commander’s card consists of their
Charisma modifier and the commander’s
abilities. The commander’s Charisma
modifier counts towards the unit’s
initiative and morale checks. While no
other stats are used there are abilities
that use the commander’s dexterity,
intelligence etc. Commander abilities can
be passive (Born Leader), used a specific
number of times (Rally, powerful potions
and spells etc.) or can be a recharge
ability (A dragonborn’s Fire Breath for
example). You can see examples of
Mass combat is a constant game of “rock,
paper, scissors”. Units are divided into 3
categories: Infantry, Skirmisher and
Cavalry. Each type has advantages and
disadvantages against the others. Each type
however has sub-categories and
combinations. For example Horse Archers
would be a Skirmisher-Cavalry unit. Unit
types are presented below.

3
 Normal
Spear-Armed
Normal
Skirmisher Cavalry
Normal
The following apply to units depending on
their type:
 Normal Infantry units have
advantage when fighting Spear
Armed units.
 Spear Armed Infantry units have
advantage when fighting cavalry
units.
 All Skirmisher units have advantage
when attacking from afar.
 All Skirmisher units have
disadvantage when fighting in
melee range.
 All Skirmisher units increase their
range by 20ft. for every 20ft. they are
positioned above the target.
 Cavalry units have disadvantage
when attacking Spear Armed units.
 Cavalry units suffer retaliation
casualties when fighting Spear
Armed units from the front.
4
Number & CR
Number is the stat that represents how
many of each creature the unit holds. CR is
the Challenge Rating of the creatures
written in its stat block. For example, if a
unit is consisted of 50 Goblins and 50 Orcs it
would look like this:
Battle Rating
Similar to the Unearthed Arcana rules for
Mass Combat we’ll be using Battle Rating
(BR) to simulate the combat effectiveness of
a unit when attacking. A unit’s BR is based
on the Challenge Rating (CR) of the
creatures that comprise it.
There are creatures, however, too weak to
provide support in mass combat on their
own. Creatures such as Goblins, Kobolts,
Bullywugs or even a common guard are too
weak to be of any relevance in a battlefield
alone. These kinds of creatures must group
up in order to be relevant. For example a
Troll alone has a BR of 4. A unit of Goblins
that wishes to reach an equal BR must be
comprised of 40 Goblins. A unit of peasants
(commoners) that has a CR of 0 functions
the same as these weaker creatures.
The BR of a unit can be decreased in battle
when it’s attacked and suffers casualties.
When a unit suffers casualties its BR is
reduced by rolling a damage die as we’ll see
in the “Combat” section. When it reaches 0
the unit is completely destroyed and cannot
rejoin the battle.
 Battle Rating by Challenge Rating DEFENSE RATING = 10 + BATTLE
CR BR RATING MODIFIER
0 +1 per 25 creatures
1/8 +1 per 20 creatures DR is used similarly to a creature’s AC.
1/4 +1 per 10 creatures
1/2 +1 per 5 creatures
Initiative & Stealth
1 +1 per 2 creatures Initiative and stealth are two stats taken
2 +1 directly from the creature’s stat block. If a
3 +2 unit consists of different creatures, the
4 +3 lower stats of every unit are kept and used
5 +4
in the unit’s card. A unit has proficiency in
6 +5 stealth only when all the creatures that
7 +6
comprise it have proficiency in Stealth (that
8 +7
includes the commander).
9 +8
10 +10 Morale
11 +12
12 +14 Every unit has a morale level that
13 +16 represents how eager or desperate the units
14 +18 are in the fight. Depending on the level of
15 +20 morale each unit has a modifier as
16 +25 presented in the table below.
17 +30
18 +35 Level Modifier Description
19 +40 0 -10 Breaking
20 +50 1 -8 Desperate
2 -4 Discouraged
3 -2 Shaken
Depending on the unit’s BR, it has a
4 0 Normal
modifier. Units increase their BR Modifier
5 +2 Eager
by 1 per 5 BR. For example the unit of Orcs
6 +4 Courageous
above has a BR Modifier of +2 since it has 8 +8 Inspired
10 BR. If it had a BR of 5, its modifier would 9 +10 Unbreakable
be +1. Always round down. A unit with a
BR of 8 would still have a BR Modifier of
+1. This is the unit’s attack bonus as we’ll Every time a unit must make a morale
explain in the “Combat” section. check it uses this modifier then adds the
commander’s charisma modifier and any
Defense Rating bonuses or penalties from abilities. A
A unit’s Defense Rating (DR) simulates the morale check’s DC is 10.
combat effectiveness of a unit when A unit that is reduced to half its original BR
defending. A unit’s DR is determined using must make a Morale check or retreat. As
its BR modifier. long as the unit remains under half its

5
original BR, every time it suffers casualties,
it must make a morale check or retreat.
However, even if it succeeds it drops a
Morale Level.

Speed
A unit’s speed, because every round takes 1
minute, is its normal speed times 10. For
example a normal guard has a speed of 30ft.
A unit of Guards would have a speed of
300ft. If a unit consists of different creatures
it uses the speed of the slowest creature.

Abilities
Abilities in units function the same as
commander abilities but they must be used
by the entirety of the unit. For example a
unit of archers can use fire arrows to attack
war machines, a unit of orcs fights like a
horde and they may gain some bonuses
when attacking near allies etc. you can find
examples in Appendix B.

6

Creating a Unit
Unit Size & Space
A unit is a group of soldiers or monsters
fighting together as one group. To make it
easier for the DM to handle, a unit is
comprised of up to 400 tiny, small, or
medium creatures taking up space of
100x100 ft.(or 20x20 squares if the suggested
grid scale) and larger creatures take up
more space as shown in the table below.
Creature Size in Units
Size Space in Unit
Tiny 1 (5x5 ft.)
Small 1 (5x5 ft.)
Medium 1 (5x5 ft.)
Large 4 (10x10 ft.)
Huge 9 (15x15 ft.)
Gargantuan 16 (20x20 ft.)
For example, a unit can comprise of 25
gargantuan creatures and 200 medium
creatures. The total space taken up is 400,
200 for the medium ones and 200 for the
gargantuan ones. If the unit does not reach
the size limit it still takes up the limit’s size
to make it easier to represent on a grid.
Once you do that, write down the number
of creatures and their CR.
Commander
As mentioned above, each unit can have a
commander. It can be either a common one,
someone special (maybe someone
important in the campaign, a king or a
general etc.) or even a Player Character.
Create the commander’s card before you
7
make the unit’s card. After you do that, fill
the unit’s card with the following stats:
Number, CR, Initiative, Stealth, and Speed.
Add the commander’s Charisma Modifier
to the initiative or keep it separate if you
intend for the commanders to move from
unit to unit during the battle.
BR & DR Total
Once you have created the unit only a few
details remain. Total up the BR and its
modifier including any mounted creatures
just like you would for any other creature.
Then proceed to fill the DR as explained in
“Defense Rating”.
Unit Abilities
Choose from the list in Appendix B or make
your own abilities depending on the type of
unit you want to create. Once again, go
wild!
Morale Level
A unit’s base Morale Level is 4. Start with
that and then decrease or Increase
depending on factors that might change a
unit’s morale. Examples of such factors are:
 One of the armies is vastly
outnumbered
 An important figure leads an army
 A great victory was achieved or a
great defeat was suffered recently
 One of the armies wields a fearful
weapon

Disassembling a
War Machine
A war machine can drastically change the
balance of power in a battle. Most of the
times you’ll see them used in sieges but
their use is not limited there. War machines
can inflict great casualties on the enemy
infantry too.
Guard Unit
The unit that is currently wielding/using a
war machine is considered a guard unit.
Whenever the war machine is attacked,
unless specified otherwise the attack is
made against the guard unit. The guard
unit is just like any other unit with the
difference that the war machine itself takes
up space in it (with exceptions). That means
that when you create such a unit you have
limited space for the unit’s creatures.
Type
In general we can split siege engines into
two categories: Siege Engine and Machine.
Siege Engine. These types of war machines
are commonly used to damage structures
like walls buildings and other siege
8
engines. However they can also attack
infantry, skirmishers, cavalry and
machines only with disadvantage. The
only exception is when the target is large
enough.
Machine. These types of siege engines are
commonly used to inflict casualties from
long range. They cannot target walls and
other siege engines unless specified
otherwise. For example a ballista can use
fire projectiles to attack a siege tower and
set it ablaze. The same applies for a
wooden wall.
Armor Class
War machines do not have a BR and DR like
units. Instead we use Armor Class(AC) to
simulate how easy it is to damage.
Hit Points
Hit Points in war machines are used to
represent how easy it is for the siege engine
to break down or get destroyed. The HP of
a war machine is not decreased by suffering
casualties like any unit. Siege engines and
other forms of attacks against war machines
must have a separate damage die.
Speed
Just like units, war machines have a speed
of their own. When a unit wields/uses a
war machine, the war machine’s speed
becomes the unit’s speed.
Abilities
War machines can use abilities in exactly
the same way as commanders and units
with one slight difference. They are passive
and their effects come into place only when
manned (Active).
Creating a War
Machine War Machine
Conditions
War Machine’s Size & Space
Before creating a war machine you have to War machine conditions are not too
decide on the size of it. Depending on the different from the unit ones that we’ll see
size, the number limit of the guard unit later on, meaning that they have a trigger
changes. and an effect.

Type & Stat Block Condition Trigger Effect

A unit used Its speed becomes
After you pick a size you have to choose
an action to the unit’s and all
what type of war machine it is. It can be a Manned
become a abilities begin
siege engine or a machine one or maybe guard unit. taking effect
even a hybrid if it fits your campaign The engine All abilities are not
setting. Unmanned has no guard active and its speed
unit is 0
After you do that, pick an AC and HP that An enemy
fits your engine. There is no rule to limit unit is
In combat
you here but that doesn’t mean you adjacent to Its speed becomes 0
(Manned)
shouldn’t be fair. Keep in mind that the the war
machine
enemy must be able to hit the engine even if
The war
they have to roll really high and that the
machine It can no longer be
engine must be able to at least take one or Destroyed
drops to 0 manned
two hits. If your war machine can attack, HP
determine a damage die that would fit its
destructive capabilities.

Speed is tied to the weight of the engine and

the creatures that wield it. A siege tower
might have a speed of 60ft. when being
Walls and gates could be considered siege engines with a speed of
pushed by soldiers for example and 80ft.
0ft., because they function the same way. If you want to manage
when trolls are added to the mix. Don’t the damage on a large structure like a castle wall or an important
overdo it, though. War machines are heavy building you could split it into groups of 5 squares (using the
and slow-moving, even the lighter ones. suggested grid. That way when it gets destroyed you can know
exactly the number of creatures that fall along with it.
War Machine Abilities
Choose from the list in Appendix C or
create your own. Go wild already!

9

Combat
Alright, so you have created your units and
war machines and the opposing armies are
ready to clash! Combat is structured the
same way as in the PH in the sense that you
determine surprise, roll initiative and each
unit gets a number of actions and so on. But
let’s go into more detail.
Determine Ambush
Step 1 First we have to determine if a unit is
surprised. However because we are
talking in units and not creatures, a unit
that is “surprised” is being ambushed.
How do we determine that? A unit that
is trying to hide in a location that would
allow it (a forest, behind a hilltop etc.)
must roll a stealth check against the
enemy unit’s perception (determine that
by using the lowest perception of the
creatures that comprise the unit), if the
creature is expecting battle or passive
perception (determine that by using the
lowest passive perception of the
creatures that comprise the unit) if it’s
not. For example, a unit that is traveling
close to an enemy stronghold will expect
battle and a unit that is transferring
goods between two towns will not.
During an ambush the attacking unit
inflicts +1d4 casualties for the first 2
turns and every time it does the
defending unit must make morale check
or retreat.
10
Initiative
Step 2 Similar to the Player’s Handbook,
each unit will have initiative
representing the order of combat.
However, because the Dungeon Master
will have a lot of units to control, and
that is a difficult task on its own, no unit
will make an initiative roll. Each unit will
have a base initiative as explained in the
“Dissecting a Unit” section.
Many units will have an equal score in
initiative using this system. As a solution
to that, try rolling a base d20 for units
that have the same initiative. Another
solution is to split it to Army 1 and Army
2, roll a d20 and whenever there is a tie
in initiative, Army 1 (for example) goes
first, depending on the roll.
Taking Turns
Step 3 Every round, units take turns in
initiative order starting from the highest.
During a unit’s turn, the unit can move,
take an action and/or use an ability.
Movement. The unit moves a number of
feet (or squares if you’re using the
suggested grid) equal to its speed. If it
encounters an enemy unit within melee
range, it stops and is then considered “in
combat”. That means it can no longer
move out of the enemy unit’s reach
without taking an opportunity attack,
unless it takes the “Disengage Action”. An
opportunity attack is a normal attack just
like the unit would do on its own turn. If
a unit turns to face a different direction it
uses a quarter of its speed (¼) for every
90o it turns.
 Actions. Each unit can take one of 3 Using an Ability. A unit can freely
actions: Attack, Guard and Disengage. choose to use an ability in battle. The
unit then proceeds to follow the ability’s
 Attack: A unit that chooses to attack instructions. Read the ability carefully.
an enemy unit within range must Some may require you to sacrifice the
make an attack roll using its Battle unit’s action.
Rating modifier against the enemy
unit’s Defense Rating. A successful or Repeat
not hit will determine if the enemy
Step 4 Step 3 is then repeated for each unit
suffers casualties or not, according to
in initiative order. Then a new round
the table below.
begins starting from unit with the
highest initiative. Remember to
Suffering Casualties determine ambush at the start of each
(Casualties are subtracted from the unit’s BR not Number)
new round. The battle is over when all
Critical The attacker suffers 1d4
the units of one side are broken and/or
Fail retaliation casualties
retreating.
The unit with the
highest BR wins. On a Counting Casualties
Failure/Tie
tie both sides suffer 1
casualty. Step 5 After the battle is over it is time to
count the losses. Take each unit and
The enemy unit suffers count how much BR it lost in casualties.
Success
1d4 casualties
10% of that is creatures that managed to
The enemy suffers 5 escape. After that use the “Battle Rating
Critical casualties and must by Challenge Rating” table to determine
Success make a morale check or the exact amount of creatures that
drop a morale level survived. Do the same for the remaining
BR and add the two numbers. Always
 Defend: A unit that chooses to defend round down. Repeat for the rest of the
gets the following effects: units.
1. Any enemy unit that moves and/or
ends its turn in range of the defending
unit is attacked by it. This does not
apply on skirmisher units.
2. Enemy units that attack the defending
one, have disadvantage on the roll.
3. The unit’s speed becomes 0.
 Disengage: A unit that takes the
disengage action can move out of an
enemy unit’s melee range without
getting attacked.

11
Units Conditions
Just like any creature in normal combat can be in certain conditions like “dazed”, “stunned” etc.
so too can be the units. However because a certain number of creatures being blinded is
irrelevant to the overall battle the conditions of a unit are different. Conditions in units are
presented in the table below.

Condition Trigger Effect

A unit that has no
Unorganized Disadvantage on all rolls
commander.

The unit cannot move but

A unit that is in melee range
In combat only change direction, unless
of an enemy unit.
it takes the disengage action.
The unit must spend its move
A unit that fails a Morale
action moving as far away
Routing check to retreat (BR below
from the enemy forces as it
half/Ambushed etc.).
possibly can.
The unit suffers +1d4 extra
A unit that is attacked from
casualties and every time it
Flanked the sides or back in melee
does it must make a morale
range.
check or retreat.

A unit that is In Combat with
1 or more units that their
Outnumbered
combined BR is double or
more than its own.
The unit has its Morale Level
decreased by 1. Morale goes
back to normal if the unit
stops being outnumbered.

A unit that is considered “the

The unit is inspired and
last line of defense” in the
Last line therefore its Morale Level
narrative or for whatever
can’t be lower than 8.
reasons the DM chooses.

A unit that is either unseen or Any attack the unit makes

Hidden hidden from the enemy against unsuspected units are
preparing for an Ambush. considered “Ambush”.

12

Appendix A –
Commander Abilities
Beast tamer. If the commander leads a
cavalry unit then it has advantage on
Perception checks against being
ambushed.
Born leader. The commander’s unit raises
its morale level by 1 at the start of the
battle.
Folk hero. The unit is inspired by having
their hero fight on their side and gains
advantage on morale checks as long as
he commands it.
Frightful presence. The commander instills
fear at the hearts of his enemies. All
enemies of the commander within 60ft.
of the unit have -2 on all Morale checks.
General. The commander is the general of
the entire army. Every friendly unit
within 60ft. is inspired and gains 2 levels
of Morale. If the commander dies or
his/her unit breaks, nearby friendly
units within the same range lose that
benefit and also decrease their Morale
level by 2.
Inspire. Once every 5 turns the commander
can increase the BR modifier of a unit not
further than 60ft. by 2 for 2 turns.
Intimidate. Once every 5 turns, if the
commander’s unit inflicts casualties, the
target must make a morale check or
retreat.
Lurker. The commander specializes in
ambushes. Therefore the unit has a +1
11
BR modifier when it ambushes an enemy
unit.
Merciless. The soldiers are ordered to leave
none alive. Any casualties that the
commander’s unit inflicts are fatal
casualties.
Necromancer. The commander is a
necromancer and will use any dead body
to their advantage. If a unit (enemy or
friendly) within 60ft. suffers casualties,
1(one) of these casualties becomes
zombies that join the commander’s unit.
Rally. Once every 5 turns the commander
can rally a unit that is retreating and is
within 60ft of the commander’s unit. The
target stops retreating and is back in the
fight.
Show of force. The commander leads not
with their charisma but with pure
strength. Whenever the Commander’s
Charisma modifier is needed you can
choose to use Commander’s strength
modifier instead.
Stealth expert. The commander specializes
in sneaking around and striking only
when the time is right. The unit gains +2
on all stealth checks.
Synchronized volley. If the commander’s
unit is a skirmisher one, every time it
makes a ranged attack, all skirmisher
units within 60ft. of it make an attack
against the same target. Their attacks do
not count as their actions.

Appendix B – Unit
Abilities
Born warriors. They live and die in battle.
Born and bred to fight, the unit has
advantage when fighting against all
infantry and all skirmish units have
advantage against it.
Bound by ritual. The unit is bound by a
ritual. Maybe a necromancer raised the
dead. Maybe a powerful wizard
charmed the king’s guard. Either way
the unit will automatically be destroyed
if the caster dies or is forced to break the
ritual.
Cautious retreat. The unit can move freely
out of reach of an enemy unit without
taking the disengage action.
Ferocious charge. If the unit (cavalry) moves
at least 40ft. this turn and attacks, then
that attack is a ferocious charge. On a
successful hit the unit inflicts +1d4
casualties breaking the enemy line and
can continue to move through the unit
with half the speed. The unit must also
make a morale check or suffer another 2
casualties on a fail. While inside an
enemy unit, if targeted by a skirmish
attack the enemy unit will also be
considered a target.
Flaming missiles. The unit ignites its
missiles giving it the ability to damage
flammable structures and war machines.
Horde. The unit fights like a horde and
gains +1 BR modifier for every similar
ally unit that is adjacent to it.
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Known enemy. The unit has advantage on
BR checks against enemies it has fought
before.
Monstrous attack. A unit of monsters
instills fear to the hearts of the soldiers
that are brave enough to face them. Each
time the unit inflicts casualties the target
must make a morale check or suffer 2
more due to attrition.
Specialized skirmishers. When attacking an
enemy unit with a skirmish attack the
unit gains a +2 BR modifier but when
attacked in melee range it has a -2 DR.
Spikes. The unit can put spikes in front of
its starting position before the battle.
Spikes inflict 2d4 casualties to cavalry
units when they move through them.
Vicious ambush. During an Ambush the
unit inflicts +2 casualties.
Total defense. When the unit takes the
guard action it inflicts +1d4 casualties.
Undead. A unit of undead blindly follows
the orders of its master. Therefore, it
cannot retreat and can only be destroyed
if its BR reaches 0.
Unorganized unit. The unit has no sense of
organized combat. Either because of lack
of proper leadership or plain old
stupidity, the unit has disadvantage on
all rolls plus all enemy units have
advantage on all rolls against it.
Worg cavalry. A cavalry unit that uses
worgs, because they are terrifying and
strong creatures on their own, inflict 1
extra casualty.
 guard unit’s size but melee attacks
Appendix C – War against the guard unit have advantage.

Machine Abilities Invisibility cloak. The war machine as well

Bound by nature. The war machine (siege
engines and walls included) is covered in
a thick layer of vines and moss.
Whenever it takes damage, if the damage
is equal or lower to 4 then the vines soak
up the damage and regenerate at the
start of the next round. If it takes damage
again before it regenerates then the
damage applies normally.
Hot oil. A war machine can use its “Hot
Oil” ability once every 3 turns. When
used, the unit (friendly or not) that is
adjacent and in front of the machine will
suffer 3 casualties.
as the guard unit is protected by magic.
A cloak of invisibility covers both and
enemy units are unable to see them and
therefore target them. A unit can attempt
to pinpoint their location by noticing
where the projectiles are coming from
and must make a DC 10 perception
check to do so. After it does, the war
machine and its guard unit are targetable
but with disadvantage. The cloak has a
range and melee units can move through
the cloak and discover the machine.
Quick load. The war machine can fire two
shots this turn but the next 2 turns will
have disadvantage on all attack rolls.

Cover. Skirmish attacks against units

wielding this war machine have
disadvantage.

Flaming shots. The guard unit ignites the

missiles it loads dealing an extra 1d4
damage to war machines.

Front cover. Units that are using the war

machine cannot be targeted by
skirmisher units from the front or sides.

Intimidating shot. The unit wielding the

war machine loads and fires a shot of
body parts gathered from their enemy.
The target must make a morale check or
drop a level of morale.

Transport. The unit wielding the war

machine is inside the machine itself. The
machine does not take up space in the

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